Today is a great day to share the new video from Rustbelt called “You Got Nowhere to Go But You’re Going There Tonight.” Previously going by the moniker of Juiceboxxx, the newly named Rustbelt (the solo project of John Chiaverina) has also announced his next EP, You Got Nowhere to Go But You’re Going There Tonight, out everywhere music is sold on January 19th via Dangerbird Records. He shared, “With Rustbelt, I’m trying to give myself room to move outside of my narrative a tiny bit. These songs are like alternate timelines for myself.” With a sound that’s fully entrenched in American-styled pop music, Rustbelt is an artist to watch as this year unfolds. I was also able to catch up with this talented artist for a brief interview below.
After roughly 20 years as Juiceboxxx you’ve changed your moniker to Rustbelt. What would you say the core differences are between the two projects?
Juiceboxxx was a sort of all-encompassing project that attempted to synthesize a lot of what I liked about music, culture and performance into one confusing whole. It was a lifestyle choice and a reason for me to keep going and also a chaotic mess. Rustbelt is different. Rustbelt is a focused project that is about songwriting more than anything else. Still, I’m trying to connect dots that maybe some musicians aren’t. I also made these cups. 2,000 cups. The cups are the point of departure for the visual identity of the project. It’s more focused, maybe, but also maybe I’m still trying to do something a little more skewed than my contemporaries.
You’ve talked before about your connection to the idea of Americana, what is it about that aesthetic and identity that fascinates you?
Again: the cups. I think the vernacular visual language of American culture will always excite me. It’s been there my whole life…It can’t help but take on some significant meaning. The experience of hanging out at a truck stop or a 7-11 is really important to me. I can’t help but be “in conversation” with that energy in one way or another. It’s all about the smell of pizza grease as it wafts out of the Domino’s, you know? The sky is dark, you’re walking home, you’re listening to “Born To Run” on your headphones…
You’ve coined your genre as, “Underdog Pop.” What does that label mean to you? How does it separate from the idea of “Alt” or “Indie Pop”?
I think I’m pushing back against what I feel like are the conceptual limitations of making a certain kind of music while also acknowledging that I’m working within a form. I’m as inspired by Certified Trapper as I am by Lou Reed…Even if that might not be obvious when you hear the music, it still seeps in there one way or another. It’s also just, like, this music—this isn’t music for winners. This isn’t music for people who feel like they have found any sort of resolve in their life. This is restless music. It’s music for the underdogs out there, fighting for their lives.